A Bona Fide Montanan

You know you have become a bona fide Montanan when:

• You earn a nickname that even your grandmother adopts.
• Another Montanan takes you huckleberry picking to a spot where you actually find berries.
• You change a tire while the temperature is thirty below.            
• You say “cattle” instead of “cows”.
• Crossing over the Continental Divide is a common occurrence. 
• You close gates after walking through them.
• You have been to Two Dot.
• 406 means something to you.
• You drive fifty miles of Eastern Montana highway without encountering another vehicle in doing so.

—Mitchell Hegman